Physical exercise includes any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose of enjoyment.
Bodyweight exercises are strength training exercises that do not require free weights. A practitioner's own weight provides the resistance for the movement. Movements such as the push-up, the pull-up, and the sit-up are some of the most common bodyweight exercises.
Because they do not require weights, bodyweight exercises are the ideal choice for individuals who are interested in fitness but do not have access to equipment. Weights may be incorporated into bodyweight exercises to increase the difficulty. While some exercises do require some sort of equipment, the majority of bodyweight exercises require none. For those exercises that do require equipment of some kind, a substitute can usually be improvised.
Bodyweight exercises, compared to weight lifting, often require much more flexibility and balance in order to perform repetitions. Many bodyweight exercises can be progressed or regressed to meet the individual's need. This progression/regression strategy allows nearly all levels of fitness to participate. Bodyweight training can be used effectively to strengthen the core muscles with the addition of speed or unstable surfaces (such as a stability ball) as well as exercise variations that limit the motion (such as extra wide push-ups or wide pull-ups).
Bodyweight exercises use the practitioner's own weight to provide the resistance for the movement. This means that the weight being lifted is never greater than the weight of one's own body. This can make it difficult to achieve a level of intensity that is near their one rep maximum, which is desirable for strength training. Bodyweight exercises can be increased in intensity by including additional weights (such as wearing a weighted vest or holding a barbell, kettlebell, sandbell or plate during a sit up) or by altering the exercise to put one's self at a leverage disadvantage (such as elevating the feet, hanging from straps to change leverage, using one limb, and incorporating isometrics).
Bodyweight exercises can also be modified to decrease the intensity. For instance, a practitioner unable to perform a single push-up may perform them with their knees on the ground, or replace pull-ups with bodyweight rows.